Discover Yourself - Act 1
by DreamSeeker
Summary: Meet the first ones to arrive for the Mount Horizon summer program.


"Discover Yourself" – Act 1

Disclaimer: The characters of Peter and Sophie, and any Cliffhangers mentioned, do not belong to me. I have added some of my own characters into the mix. 

"_Knowing others is wisdom; Knowing the self is enlightenment; Mastering others requires force; Mastering the self needs strength._" – Tao te Ching

May 30, 2001

Elizabeth Barnes was having a BAD day. Nothing seemed to be going right. She had overslept and was now running late, speeding down some backwoods road, trying to find this place that she would be spending the next 3 weeks at. 

****

Why did I ever agree to do this? she wondered silently to herself. She and her friends had all filled out the applications, not really thinking any of them would be chosen to go. When Liz got a call from Peter Scarbrow, asking her if she'd like to come to "Discover Yourself", she jumped at the chance. Liz thought that at least one of her friends would also be chosen, but no such luck. **Oh, well, at least it gets me out of the house for part of the summer**, she sighed. Liz knew she had the good life – she came from an upper middle-class family, had just finished her sophomore year at an excellent university, and had several good friends. But many of her friends were already 21 and were staying at school for the summer, taking classes or working, and no doubt partying like crazy. Liz would have given anything to stay at school for the summer with her friends, but she had no reason to do so. She didn't need to take any summer classes, and she already had an internship lined up near home. Plus, her parents would never go for it. Why stay at school when she had a free room at home? She could practically hear her mother's voice there in the car. Liz understood their point of view, but she would have been the one to pay for her rent at school, not her parents. **Story of my life, they always decide what is best for me, but it seems like they forget to ask what I think is best for me.**

Liz saw the sign for Mount Horizon and turned into the drive. She had to admit, this was a beautiful area. Not that she had much to compare it to, her family had never been camping. Her mother's idea of camping was staying at a bad motel. **This should be interesting**, she thought as she saw a man and woman waiting up ahead. 

Michael Wells couldn't remember the last time he had been this high. He took one last hit before flushing the joint down the toilet in the bathroom of the bus station. **How am I going to go without this stuff for 3 weeks?** he thought to himself. Mike had started out just getting high occasionally at college, the stuff was easy to come by there. Now, out in the real world, Mike found himself using more and more. **Hey, no problem – it's under control**, he kept reassuring himself. At least, it had been under control until his mother was killed in a random mugging over a year ago. Mike and his family had tried to deal with the loss together, but they each ended up dealing with their pain alone, in different ways. Now, Mike's dad was starting to date again, something Mike didn't want to even think about. So, Mike finally graduated from college, found a good job, and moved in with a college friend, who also enjoyed partaking in Mike's bad pot habit. 

Mike's dad had wanted Mike and the rest of the family to go on a cruise before Mike started his new job. Mike instead applied for "Discover Yourself", and was overjoyed when he was accepted so he wouldn't have to go on the cruise with the family, especially his dad's new girlfriend. **How bad can it be? Tromping through the woods, learning if I'm a Type A or Type B personality** thought Mike as he boarded the bus to Agnes.

Alison Smith sighed as she entered the small town of Agnes. **I hope this helps**, she thought. She had graduated from college when she was 21, and had been working for a couple of years now. The problem was, she was anything but happy. She didn't understand why – she had a good job, her parents and friends lived nearby, and she was thinking about buying a house. **Then why am I so unmotivated? Why do I hate my job?** She looked down at her body. **And why have I gained so much weight in the past few years? I hate my body.** Gee, she sounded like her mother. She could just hear her now – "I'm so bloated, why am I this fat? I hate looking like this. You'd better lose weight, you've gained too much weight lately. You don't want to be fat for the rest of your life, do you?" Ali always got angry when her mother would say things like that. Ali tried to convince her mother that her mom was not fat, especially since Ali was heavier than her mom. And then Ali would tell her mom that yes, she knew she needed to lose weight, and no, she didn't want to be fat for the rest of her life. Then Ali would look over at her dad, who never said a word, but just looked the other way. 

Ali was due for a vacation. In fact, her boss had suggested she take an extended vacation, which Ali didn't take as a good sign. She didn't have a lot of money for a vacation and was glad when she received the "Discover Yourself" application, it didn't cost that much compared to going anywhere else for a 3-week vacation. **Besides, it couldn't hurt to find out more about myself** she reasoned. With that thought, she pulled into the drive of Mt. Horizon, and followed the sign to the main lodge. 

Later that day…

Sophie found Peter finishing up in the kitchen, cleaning up after lunch. 

"Hey, I thought that was their job to do?" Sophie teased.

"Well, I decided to give them their first meal here with no chores. But don't worry, no more charity from this guy." He grinned at her, then tried to swat her with the towel, which she managed to dodge.

"When do the rest of the participants arrive?" asked Sophie.

"Sometime this evening, I think. I hope their admits go well. So far, so good."

"Well, it's not like we're dealing with juvenile delinquents here. Granted, we had to take away cigarettes from Elizabeth, but if that's the worst of it, I'll be very happy!" Sophie stopped for a minute, thinking about the earlier admits. "Peter, do you think they understand why we have to search their stuff, even though we aren't as strict as we are with the teens?"

"It was spelled out pretty clearly in the brochure, I thought," Peter replied. "We can't afford to get in trouble for someone bringing something illegal in here. Plus, this is supposed to be about personal growth, which means no mood-altering substances. It makes sense to me, and I would hope it would make sense to these adults."

"Yeah, you're right. I just don't want to do anything to throw off their trust. We only have 3 weeks to work with them, that's not much time to get them to open up."

"Soph, are you listening to yourself? This isn't group, we are not dealing with troubled teens. This should be cake compared to what we're used to dealing with! Besides, our main goal is to show them a good time on outdoor expeditions, and have them participate in personal growth workshops. We may decide to throw in group sessions, but we'll have to feel it out. I think we just need to be low-key on this, okay?"

"Peter, all I'm saying is that I have baggage with my parents and with not being able to have kids. You have baggage with your addictions and with your dad's death. We just need to remember that just because they're adults doesn't mean they don't have their share of problems. Besides, couldn't you smell the pot smoke in Mike's clothes? I'll have to read his application form again, there are definitely issues there."

"Soph, that is why I love you. Always looking out for others' well being." He smiled and kissed her. 

"We'd better get back outside to get ready for the rest of the group," Sophie tried to pull away, a little breathless from their kiss. 

"Okay, fine. Let's go." With that, Peter swatted her with the towel again, this time catching her a little on the hip. She tried to get back at him, and chased him out of the kitchen.

Next time: the rest of the group arrives.

Sorry this is taking a while to set up. Comments are appreciated. Thanks!


End file.
